'You'll PLUNGE a knife in the heart of Government' IDS WARNS Tory rebels over Brexit vote

'You'll PLUNGE a knife in the heart of Government' IDS WARNS Tory rebels over Brexit vote

BREXITEER Iain Duncan Smith warned Tory rebels over the upcoming House of Commons vote on the Brexit bill, claiming failing to support Prime Minister Theresa May would be "plunging a knife into the heart of Government".

Speaking on BBC Sunday Politics, the prominent Brexiteer warned a Government's defeat in the House of Commons by the hands of Tory rebels voting against Theresa May's Brexit red line of leaving the customs union, would be a"very big issue".

Mr Smith argued voting in favour of the House of Lords amendments to the Government's withdrawal bill would be in breach of the key Tory manifesto's principles signed before the general elections.

He said: “I would just say to my colleagues who might think of voting against on this particular area of the customs union, which is what’s coming back from the Lords, is they really need to think very carefully about this.

“Because Prime Minister hasn’t just made it clear in the past, she made it clear again this Sunday, in the Sunday Times, that she is for leaving the customs union.

“Because they do literally plunge a knife into the heart of Government and particularly to the Prime Minister because it was very much her fixed view.

“And that is what we stood on in the last election.”

Writing in the Sunday Times, Prime Minister Theresa May restated her “mission” to take back control of our money, laws and borders when we leave the EU, insisting that we would “establish our own independent trade policy”.

They do literally plunge a knife into the heart of Government

Iain Duncan Smith

Mrs May has repeatedly said the UK will leave the single market and customs union but her support for a so-called “new customs partnership” with Brussels has been criticised by Brexiteers, who say it keeps us too closely aligned with the bloc.

Her latest statement on the subject suggests she has softened her stance on the Eurosceptics’ preferred alternative “Max Fac” – short for maximum facilitation – which relies on new technology and trusted trader schemes to avoid a hard border with the EU in Northern Ireland.

The Prime Minister said: “Amid all the noisy debate and technical discussions about our departure from the European Union, I want to take this opportunity to remind the British public of my mission in the negotiations.

Theresa May’s Tory Brexit rebels

Thu, December 14, 2017

Theresa May’s Tory Brexit rebels: The MPs who backed the amendment to the Brexit bill.

“Brexit provides the opportunity to build a new relationship with the EU where we are close trading partners and strong allies but with the British Government in control of our laws, our immigration policy and how taxpayers’ money is spent.

“You can trust me to deliver.”

Vowing that Britain will take back control of our borders, she added: “The public want their own Government to decide on the number of people coming into Britain from across the EU and that is what we are going to do.”

The Brexit bill will return to the Commons on Thursday following a staggering number of 14 defeats in the House of Lords.